Wildfires in southern Belarus, including radiation-contaminated area

September 12, Pozirk. At 6 am this morning, firefighters were working to contain a large wildfire covering an area of 14.5 hectares in the parts of the Homiel region most affected by radioactive fallout after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the emergency ministry reported.

Over the past day, two wildfires of 2,002 hectares were extinguished in the Homiel region’s Žytkavičy and Rečyca districts, along with smaller fires of 1,079 hectares in five other districts.

Dry vegetation was burning in Mahiloŭ region as firefighters reported at least seven wildfires. The Brest region’s authorities did not report any over the past day.

Belarus’ weather service has maintained the red flag wildfire warning for Homiel, Mahiloŭ and Brest regions for today.

Scientists say that fires put radionuclides back into the active state they were in 1986 immediately after the Chernobyl disaster.

“Radiation from this dust particle exceeds all safety limits. Suppose a plant containing plutonium ions burns, sending ash and dust into the air. A very stable aerosol is formed. The wind carries it wherever it blows. Scientists have found that dust storms transport and distribute isotopes such as cesium, strontium, americium and plutonium,” Siarhiej Biesarab, a radiation scientist, has told Pozirk in April.

Also read: Nearly 40 years after nuclear disaster, radioactive substances still dangerous, scientist says